New Zealand led by Kane Williamson recorded an excellent comeback to register a 4-run win against opponents Pakistan in the first test between the two nations at Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Pakistan seemed to be poised for victory at the start of the day following inch-perfect bowling performances by Hasan Ali and Yasir Shah early on.
However, the New Zealand bowling attack led by spinner Ajaz Patel clearly had other plans as they dismissed their opponents for a score of 171, having handed them a paltry target of 176 runs to chase down.
Patel was the pick of the bowlers picking a five-wicket haul with fellow spinner Ish Sodhi and fast bowler Neil Wagner picking two wickets apiece.
Pakistan bowlers Hasan Ali and Yasir Shah picked five wickets each in an innings to become the first Pakistani bowlers since Danish Kaneria and Shoaib Akhtar in 2004 to do so, shattering a 14-year-old record during the first test against New Zealand.
Ali recorded figures of 45/5, registering his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests. On the other hand, Shah provided valuable support with his deceptive, looping deliveries to register figures of 110/5, which played a key role in New Zealand being restricted to a score of 249 runs.
Kane Williamson and Jeet Raval seemed to be in good nick during the morning session after resuming at 56 for one. However, Shah and Ali made their presence felt with an excellent performance whene it mattered the most.
A sharp leg-break from Yasir Shah cleaned Williamson’s stumps with the rest of the batsmen failing to ensure much of a resistance following the inch-perfect performances by the duo.
Source: Zee News